This invention relates generally to latching and locking mechanisms, and more particularly, to a latching and locking mechanism for sliding doors wherein the latch is activated by slide members and has an integral bolt locking mechanism.
Sliding doors are typically used in homes and other locations where there is insufficient space for a swinging door mounted on hinges, or the use of a sliding door is aesthetically pleasing. As an example, sliding screen doors and sliding glass doors have found wide application in homes as entryways from patio areas.
For those sliding doors providing access to a building, a necessary part of the hardware of the door is a latching and locking mechanism whereby the sliding door may be latched closed, unlatched from either the inside or the outside of the building, and securely locked from the inside only if desired. Since sliding doors are often used in portions of the building involving recreational activities, such as patio access screen doors, it is highly desirable that the latching and locking mechanism be located entirely below or flush with the planar surfaces of the door, to enhance the appearance and avoid accidents resulting from projecting parts.
From an economic standpoint, the latching and locking mechanism should be economically manufactured and reliable, with design safeguards which avoid the possibility of breakage of the mechanism during normal usage. It is further desirable that a single latching and locking mechanism be usable for sliding doors which open from left to right and doors which open from right to left, since this approach reduces manufacturing and inventory costs, and simplifies the considerations of installation.
Prior devices for accomplishing the latching and locking function on sliding screen doors have utilized a pivoted latching lever, having a latch at one end, a central pivot and a lever operable by the person opening the door. As an example of its use, the latch may be pivoted upwardly to clear a keeper located in the door jamb by pressing the lever downwardly and then sliding the door open. Any excessive forces exerted by the person opening the door are carried by the pivoting mechanism or are reacted against the edges of the slot through which the handle protrudes. Since it is not uncommon that excessive forces are exerted and because the materials of construction of such latching and locking mechanisms are typically low cost plastics, such lever-actuated latching and locking devices commonly fail in use by failure of the lever component. It is therefore desirable to devise a latching and locking mechanism wherein excessive opening forces are not transmitted to inherently low-strength portions of the structure, but are instead absorbed and reacted against comparatively strong portions of the structure.
Accordingly, there has been a need for a latching and locking mechanism for sliding doors that securely latches the door closed but may be unlatched from either the inside or the outside of the door, may be securely locked in the closed position only from the inside of the door, may be used with doors opening from right to left or left to right with a single device, may be economically manufactured, lies flush with the surface of the door, and whose design inherently avoids the transmittal of excessive opening forces to comparatively weak portions of the mechanism. The present invention fulfills this need, and further provides related advantages.